Orange's connection to Hollywood history

A scene shown here from the 1912 "Squaw Man" short film was shot in Santiago Canyon. Cecil B. DeMille would direct another version of "Squaw Man" in 2014 in Hollywood. COURTESY OF THE ORANGE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Cecil B. DeMille

The director is often described as a founding father of Hollywood and one of the most successful filmmakers in history.

Born: 1881 in Massachusetts

Died: 1959 in Los Angeles

Film career: Directed about 80 silent and sound films from 1914 to 1956

Accolades: Won three Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and other recognitions

Source: DeMille Estate at cecilbdemille.com

Orange's ties to early film industry

A sample of early movies filmed around town or directed by Orange natives:

1912: "The Squaw Man" is shot in Santiago Canyon.

1912-13: William Boyd, who would later appear in 20 films portraying Hopalong Cassidy, delivers goods for Orange's Ehlen and Grote Store.

Back in the 1910s, the hills east of Orange were often overrun with cowboys, Indians and covered wagons. The land saw countless gunfights, cattle stampedes and a few daring heists.

The land, surrounding what's now Irvine Regional Park, served as one of the fledgling motion picture industry's first filming locations.

The area's vibrant valleys, grassy hills, arid canyons and lush creeks were the perfect setting for the Wild West. Most of the movies were 20-minute shorts, popular at the time because they fit on a single reel. One film, 1912's “The Squaw Man,” was an early version of a movie that would go on to make Hollywood history.

“The land around Orange was then considered ‘Indian Country' for Hollywood producers,” said local historian Douglas Westfall.

Another historian, Jim Sleeper, described the area in his book “Great Movies Shot in Orange County” about the first part of the 1910s: “Santiago Canyon saw more massacres per acre than the Great Plains states saw in a lifetime.”

Sleeper, who died in 2012, chronicled in the 1980 book more than a dozen scenes for films shot around what is today Irvine Regional Park, Irvine Lake, Santiago Canyon and Santiago Creek.

Some movies featured actors, directors and other crew members who would later work in bigger Hollywood productions. Many locals believe the legendary director Cecil B. DeMille also traveled to the area to film.

DeMille is often referred to as one of Hollywood's founding fathers. His 1914 version of “The Squaw Man” has the distinction of being the first feature-length production filmed in Hollywood.

“The Squaw Man” was adapted from a 1905 play that tells the story of a British officer who moves to America to work as a cattle rancher, then falls in love with an American Indian girl.

Several versions of the story were produced into films, including the short shot in Orange's hills in 1912.

In that version, the American Indian girl was played by actress Princess Red Wing.

She would later play the same role in DeMille's 1914 adaptation.

Between 1913 and 1920, DeMille directed more than 30 silent movies. Most were Westerns shot across the region. Westfall and other film historians believe DeMille likely shot some scenes in eastern Orange.

The filmmaker “shot all over Southern California,” said the director's granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley, a Newport Beach resident.

“He was always looking for the perfect location. I don't know if he ever worked in Orange.

“But if the scenery was right, he would have found his way to it,” she said.

DeMille Presley serves as a trustee emeritus at Chapman University.

DeMille's most famous Orange County film location was Seal Beach in the early 1920s.

The city's shoreline served as the coast of the Red Sea for “The Ten Commandments,” which came out in 1923 and starred Theodore Roberts.

DeMille later went on to direct the more famous Charlton Heston version of “The Ten Commandments,” which was released in 1956.

A scene shown here from the 1912 "Squaw Man" short film was shot in Santiago Canyon. Cecil B. DeMille would direct another version of "Squaw Man" in 2014 in Hollywood. COURTESY OF THE ORANGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Actress Princess Red Wing films a scene where she escapes in a canoe down Santiago Creek for the 1912 "Squaw Man." The actress would later play the same role in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 adaptation. COURTESY OF THE ORANGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
In a scene from Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" filmed in 1923, Theodore Roberts as Moses prepares to part the Red Sea with Seal Beach as the location. REGISTER FILE PHOTO
Cecil B. DeMille, movie director and producer, in his Hollywood home in Los Angeles in 1956. DeMille studies a script of his latest picture, 'Ten Commandments' in the garden of home. Photo taken on June 19, 1956. DAVID F. SMITH, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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